


Awkward Conversations

by LadyWitcheress



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Because Broly deserves something nice, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I couldn't not do this, Please tell me I'm not the only one who ships this, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-23 23:10:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21089369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyWitcheress/pseuds/LadyWitcheress
Summary: Cheelai, Broly, and Lemo are settling into their life on Vampa fairly easily. But teaching Broly the intricacies of social interaction proves awkward, difficult, and more than a little uncomfortable. Especially when Broly has a question for Cheelai that throws her for a loop. Will continue with other chapters. Slow-burn Cheelai/Broly, though nothing explicit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own, don't profit, don't sue.
> 
> This fic is also posted on FF. Net. In fact, that was where it was originally posted. But then I realized that I had an account here, and that I could post here too. Funny how that works, innit?
> 
> Enjoy.

Vampa wasn’t so bad, Cheelai thought. Sure, it was kind of hell-like and, as Freiza had put so eloquently, “repugnant” but it wasn’t so bad. Not with Lemo and Broly as company. Or the food that weird, still-untrustworthy Saiyan brought when he came to fight Broly. Or, “train” as he had put it. To Cheelai, it was all the same. But Broly seemed to trust him, and he seemed to enjoy himself everytime, so she supposed that there wasn’t much harm to it. 

No, Vampa wasn’t so bad. 

Interrupting her thoughts was her own personal Legendary Super Saiyan, who was currently walking timidly towards the rock she was sitting on with some of the aforementioned Earth food. Even after the weeks they had spent on the planet together, he was still unsure of his interactions with her and Lemo. As if he was still waiting for the day for them to turn on him and become like his father. To use and abuse him. It hurt her heart, to see it. Made her think of him as a poor little boy, despite him being apparently over twenty years old; Paragus had told them about how long they had roughly been stranded on the planet. 

“Hey Broly,” she greeting, winking at him as he came closer. “What’cha up to?”

“Lemo said you might be getting hungry. Asked me if I would mind bringing you some food. Also wanted me to make sure that you were safe.” He replied, and held out his offering. She didn’t recognize some of the food and had forgotten the names of the others, but it all far more appetizing than the protein bars they had gotten in the Frieza Force and the disgusting beetle slime that Broly had lived off of for so long. She shivered at the memory of the acrid taste.

“Thanks,” she said, giving him her “okay” gesture and a cheeky grin. Accepting the meal, she patted the space on the rock beside her, where his bulk could easily fit. “Care to pop a squat?”

Confusion crossed his face, and she was forced to remember that many of her idioms and mannerisms were lost on the poor guy. Apparently Paragus had only seen fit to teach Broly the very formal basics of social interaction. 

Cheelai held back a sigh. “Do you want to sit down, Broly?”

The small smile she received in turn was so sweet it melted her heart a little. 

“Yes, thank you.”

Carefully settling himself beside her, and minding the distance between them (she and Lemo had had to teach him a few lessons in personal space) he turned his gaze to the distance lying before them.

There wasn’t much to see, truth be told, and the view certainly wasn’t pleasant enough to warrant their attention, but it was all they had, and at least the sunset was pretty enough. 

Chowing down on the food Broly had brought, she held out a piece that she knew Broly had taken a particular liking to. “Here, have some. I know how big your appetite is, big guy.” She laughed a bit, and gave him another wink and her signature sign. 

“Um, thanks.” He returned, making his own awkward version of her gesture. 

Being just as careful as he had been when settling himself on the rock, Broly took the proffered food from her and began to slowly eat it. 

They sat in silence for a little bit, enjoy their food and one another’s company, before the quiet was broken by the Saiyan.

“Cheelai?” he asked, his tone hesitant, and she turned her head to look at him, mouth full of food.

“Y-uh?” her reply was muffled and apparently unintelligible from the look on Broly’s face. She swallowed her oversized bite, and then cleared her throat before answering. “Yeah?”

“May I ask you a question?”

Cheelai blinked. Why was he asking if he could ask her something? Didn’t he know that he could basically ask her anything and that she wouldn’t care? The guy was so innocent, he probably couldn’t be rude if he tried. Plus, it wasn’t like she was a closed book; a super-private kind of girl. She was about as chill as she could be. Hadn’t he learned that yet, she thought with a slight sigh?

“Of course you can Broly.”she replied, “Shoot.”

He frowned, and she realized, once again, that he had no idea why she had said that. Before she could amend her statement however, Broly had raised a finger towards the distance. Watching with widening eyes, Cheelai saw a light begin to emanate from the tip, forming a small ball.

“Wait!” she blurted, grabbing his arm. “Wait, wait, wait! Hold it! Not what I meant big guy!”

“But you told me to—“ Broly began in confusion , but she cut him off before he could finish.

“I know, I know. That was my bad.” She laughed a little, to release the tension his almost-misfire had caused. She ruffled a hand through her short locks. “Um, so, what was that you wanted to ask me?”

Now Broly just looked uncomfortable, shifting in place and eyes turning away from hers, refusing to look her in the face. Cheelai frowned. This wasn’t the Broly that she knew and loved. 

Er, wait,  _ loved? _

Where had  _ that _ come from?

Must have just been her mind finishing the saying for her. 

Yeah, that was it.

She was dragged from her inner thoughts again when Broly finally mustered up the courage to speak again.

“Well…Lemo said something. About you. And it made me…curious.” He managed, sounding as if he was unsure of what is was exactly that he wanted to say. Now this had  _ her _ curiosity piqued. And also a little indignant; just what exactly had Lemo said about her?

“Oh yeah? What’d he say?” she asked, her tone slightly confrontational. Not that she would actually get mad at Broly for what Lemo had said, she would just beat Lemo for it later, but if Broly needed correcting on something, she was going to make sure that he received it. 

“He said…” Broly took a moment to take a sip from his drink—just plain old water, his favorite—before continuing. “That you were a…girl?”

Cheelai blinked at Broly for a moment, then another, before she giggled. Then she giggled again, before eventually her giggling developed into full-blown, tear-producing laughter. She laughed so hard she doubled over and nearly fell off the rock that they were sitting on. Eventually her mirth faded, and died completely when she saw the look on Broly’s face. It was a mixture of hurt and befuddlement, and instantly made her feel like crap.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, trying to make obvious her regret. “I shouldn’t have laughed like that; that was mean of me.”

Broly responded with a small smile, his gentle eyes showing that they accepted the apology, in their own uncertain way. It made him look so innocent, so pure, those looks. When he showed his gentle, Saiyan-contradicting ways. She didn’t know too much about Saiyans, other than their love for battle, their strength, and their heartless ways. Paragus had been an excellent example of that, she thought with bitterness. Although not so much on the strength-side; that was more Broly, her thoughts taking a happier turn.

“So,” Broly began, looking her dead in the eyes. “Is it true?”

“What, that I’m a girl?” Cheelai asked with a raised brow and a smile. “Yup, sure am. Since before I was born.”

“Hm.” He paused, eyes flicking away from hers before flitting back again. “What… _ is _ a girl?”

_ Oh holy shit, is he serious? _ She couldn’t help but think, staring at him with her eyes surely bugging out of her head. How did he  _ not _ know what a girl was?

Oh, because he had lived with no one but his father his whole life, a man who hadn’t deemed to teach his son anything but how to fight. But surely his father would have told him that was at least more than one sex, right?

It took Cheelai a moment to come the realization that no, Paragus had not thought to teach his son anything along those lines. Why would he? He had probably thought that they were going to be stranded on this desolate planet forever, never again seeing another being. It kind of made sense, in a weird, messed up way, if you thought about it. 

But that didn’t make it right.

_ Damn you, Paragus. _ She swore, cursing the man who had done his son so many injustices. 

“Cheelai?” her softly spoken name was enough to snap her out of her dark thoughts, and she returned her eyes to her companion. She gave him a tight, nervous smile. 

How was she even supposed to begin explaining this to him? Internally she was screaming. This was going to be one of the most difficult things she had ever done in her life.

And had stolen a freaking Galactic Patrol ship.

She cleared her throat, trying desperately to collect her thoughts enough so as to begin her explanation. 

“Yeah?” she stalled, her voice cracking from anxiety. 

“What’s a girl?” he repeated, his naivety oddly endearing in a way. She softened just a bit, remembering that none of this was his fault. He was just a sweet, child-like man who had been grossly abused by the only other person he had known. He needed someone to treat him with patience and kindness, not censure and anger. To help him become the adult that he should have been, had he not been stranded on a desolate planet.

“Well, ya see…” she began, eventually her thoughts taking shape. “A girl is someone different than a boy. We have physical differences, and our brains work a little different, too. We’re just different from boys, like you.”

Broly slowly nodded, processing the information, his brow furrowed slightly. Cheelai steeled herself as she awaited the inevitable questions.

“Physical differences…” he murmured, his eyes, which had been focused internally, now cut back to hers. “Like our height?”

A light laugh escaped her, glad of the innocence of the question. “Um, not exactly, big guy. I’m just naturally short; it’s part of my species. Like how I’m green with white hair. Those aren’t because I’m a girl, it’s just because I’m not Saiyan, like you. I’m something different, in addition to being a girl.”

He nodded again, still processing. “I had wondered about that.” He replied. “So, if your height and other stuff don’t make you a girl, what does?”

Oh boy, here was the hard part. How had she even wound up in this situation, she wondered? Why had Lemo opened his big mouth and mentioned that she was female? How had that even come up in day to day conversation? She was totally going to kick him once she got back to their cave, she promised herself. 

“Um…well,” she started awkwardly, wondering how the hell she was going to explain boobs and, er,  _ other _ stuff to him. “Well, do you see my chest?” she said, gesturing to her rather impressive (if she said so herself) breasts. “See how it’s rounder than yours? Well, the mounds are called breasts. Most girls have them, although I’m sure that there are some species who don’t, now that I think about it.” She added as an afterthought, tapping her chin as she wondered about that. 

“Breasts.” Repeated Broly, staring at them with his oddly innocent stare, but so intently that eventually she started to feel uncomfortable.

“Er, yup, breasts. That’s what I got.” She laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of her head.

It thankfully wasn’t too long before his eyes returned to hers. “So that’s what makes us different?” he asked, clearly trying to make sure he was grasping the concept.

“Yeah,” she agreed, but then made a face. “Well, there  _ is _ one other thing…” she trailed off, then wondered what kind of can of worms she had just opened. How the heck was she supposed to explain  _ that _ to him? Did he even understand what  _ he _ had?

“Like what?” he asked innocuously, and Cheelai couldn’t help but cringe. Why oh why had she brought this up? Why couldn’t she had just left well enough alone? Why couldn’t she have just let him think that they had the same plumbing? Where was the harm in that? It wasn’t like he was ever gonna see what she had. 

Or, at least, that was the plan.

She let out a nervous little laugh, again running a hand through her short, choppy locks. “Well, you know what  _ you _ have, right? You know, down there?” she gestured vaguely down to where  _ it _ was, causing Broly to look down there, too. 

“Yes, I know what that is.” He replied. “Dad taught me what to do with it.”

Now that was a surprise. Paragus hadn’t deemed to teach him what females were, but he had taught Broly about procreation? Man, that guy had been weird.

“What do you mean?” she asked hesitantly, wondering what exactly it was that Broly was referring to. 

“He taught me that it was for urination.” Broly said simply, as if it were obvious.

Cheelai’s shoulders sagged as she realized just how little Broly’s father had taught him. Good grief, the man had deserved to be kicked thoroughly. 

“Well, yeah, it is used for that.” She agreed affably, “And that’s what part of what I have down there is used for, too. I just have something different.”

She had to fight a smile at the way Broly’s eyes comically widened at this revelation. “You have…something different…down there?” 

She nodded, trying to keep the conversation light, casual. Not too serious. She couldn’t handle seriousness about this. 

“Yup. I have a…well…I have a…” she was really at a loss for words at how to describe it. There was literally no nice way to put it. In fact, she didn’t even want to try. She had had enough of this discussion for now. She had reached her limit. She was tapped out. Done for. Stick a fork in her. That was all, folks.

“You know what, how about I take your chores for a week if you agree to drop this conversation for now?” she asked, praying that he would agree to let his curiosity go. She understood his need and want to know things; he wasn’t stupid. But this…she just couldn’t handle this.

Cheelai watched as Broly’s eyes widened, and he blinked a few times. She knew that the offer was tempting. Despite their attempts to domesticate Broly, he hadn’t adapted well to having to clean and take care of things. Again, something that she blamed Paragus for. He just hadn’t been taught, and habits were hard to break. Hell, Paragus hadn’t even taught him proper hygiene. She was pretty sure the first time he had ever bathed was when he had arrived on Freiza’s ship. And come to think of it, he had still been uncertain of the shower in the house that Goku guy had given them.

“I…” she waited with baited breath for his answer. “Agree.”

_ Oh thank the universe. _

“Okay,” she chirped. “Good. Great.” She remembered the food beside her and began to tear into it with gusto, so as to quickly change the topic. 

Broly seemed to remember the food as well, for he began to pick at his own. Although, there seemed to be something wrong with him, for now he was staring down at his lap, his wild hair partially obscuring it.

She hadn’t upset him, had she?

“Hey,” she said gently, “Are you okay?”

He peeked at her, clearly hesitant to speak. “I’m sorry if I upset you, Cheelai. I did not mean to.”

She blew out a breath, and closed her eyes for a moment, her heart breaking a little. “Broly, you didn’t upset me, big guy. I just wasn’t sure how to answer your questions. It was…a little uncomfortable. But that’s my bad, not yours.”

He cocked his head. “You keep using that phrase. What does it mean?”

Cheelai blinked at him, before realizing what he meant. “What, you mean my bad? It means that I messed up, not you, or that the problem is with me, not you. It’s just an informal way of putting it.”

“So, it was not  _ my bad,  _ then?” he asked, a hopeful look in his dark eyes. She laughed, then lightly punched his arm.

“Nah, it definitely wasn’t your bad, big guy.” She said, and gave him her signature gesture and a saucy wink. She picked up a little bag of what she knew to be salty, crunchy things and opened them, offering some to him so as to show that she was not, at all, upset with him. 

Now Lemo, on the other hand…


	2. Chapter 2

It had been weeks since that awkward discussion between Broly and herself, but Cheelai was having trouble getting it out of her head. It had been illuminating, in a way, as to just how cruel and unjust Paragus had been. He had totally denied Broly so many life lessons and joys. Hell, he had denied Broly  _ friendship _ with a freaking  _ animal. _ The story of Bah had been just heartbreaking to hear. And to think that Broly had been just a kid when that had happened? It was deplorable.

Cheelai was lounging around in the cave as she thought about this, arms crossed behind her head and one leg resting on the knee of another. She had had her eyes closed while she was relaxing, but opened them upon hearing a noise. 

She looked up from her place, and smiled when she saw that it was Broly coming back from his daily round of killing off the parasitic beetles that infested Vampa, and posed a threat to her and Lemo. Before, when it had been just himself and Paragus, there hadn’t been much need, but the planet was small, almost no bigger than most asteroids and moons, and the two needed more area to roam than just beyond the cave. At least while they were here, that was. Plans were already being made to make an escape from the planet and to find one more suitable for life, but still off of Freiza’s radar. Lemo had more knowledge of the planets and star systems than she did, and was also more tech savvy than she was, so it had mostly been left of him to find a planet. One with water, and soil that could maybe grow something. Not that she or the boys really knew much about farming, but hey. They couldn’t live off rations forever, could they? And considering that she herself was wanted by Galactic Patrol  _ and _ the Frieza Force, living in civilization didn’t seem like the smartest move they could make. So that made going on supply runs just a teensy bit difficult. 

“Hey big guy,” Cheelai greeted as he came closer, smiling happily. “How’d the beetle-killing go? Get any new scars?”

Broly paused, his brow creasing slightly. “No, I was not wounded. The beetles are weak creatures. Easy to exterminate.”

“Glad to hear it.” She said with a laugh, jumping up from her languid position to stand. “So, do anything interesting today besides killing some bugs?”

A head tilt was showed her that he was considering her words and searching for an answer. “Lemo and I had some more reading lessons. I enjoyed them…but, they are hard.”

She nodded sympathetically, mentally cursing Paragus yet again for his lack of parenting outside of training and the basics of manners. Sure, teach your kid to throw a punch, say “thank you”, but actually teach them how to be a self-sustaining person outside of battle? Yeah right.

“Yeah, reading was tough for me, too,” she lied, remembering that she had taken to it with the ease of a normally developing child for her race. “But don’t worry, you’ll get better. It’ll just take some time.” She flashed him her “okay” sign. “All right?”

He clumsily returned the gesture, and gave her a small smile. “All right.” He said, his tone unfamiliar with the phrase. He was still having trouble with getting out of his gentle, monotone way of speaking and putting the proper inflection of tone and pitch of voice into his sentences. 

Like she had said, domesticating Broly was turning out to be a little harder than she and Lemo had thought. 

Like when he kept walking in on her and Lemo in the shower, she thought with a slight grimace. Apparently Paragus hadn’t taught Broly about privacy. Thankfully, though, she and Lemo had both been hidden by the shower curtain, so it hadn’t been  _ so _ bad. But still. Not the point.

“How was your day?” Broly asked in a slightly stunted way, clearly remembering that Lemo and Cheelai had showed him how to politely inquire about how someone was doing, and how they had been. She smiled brightly at him, glad that he was picking up on things.

“It was good,” she replied, “Just lounged around. Taking a lazy day, ya know?”

“Lazy day?” Broly repeated, face blank until he remembered the meaning. “Oh, that sounds…good.”

She laughed slightly, then gave him a little punch on the arm. “Yup, it was good, big guy.” Throwing him a wink, she started turning her body towards their little house, and wrapped an arm around his waist to lead him there. He stiffened, more so than usual when Cheelai touched him, enough so that it gave her cause to look at him in concern. 

His face was tight, and he was avoiding her eyes again. She leaned back, removing her arm from him. 

“Hey,” she said softly, “What’s wrong Broly?”

He turned his dark eyes back to her, shame in them. “Lemo said something about…boys and girls touching. Said it wasn’t… _ appropriate.” _ His mouth stumbled over the obviously new word, and yet again, Cheelai found herself wanting to punch Lemo. 

Good grief, could the guy not keep his mouth shut about this crap? What had he gone and said  _ now? _

“What did he say, Broly?” she asked, trying to keep her anger from showing. It wouldn’t do to have Broly think she was mad at him; he would just get sad and stay that way for days, thinking he had done his friends wrong and could never make up for it. 

A furrow appeared between his brows as he seemed to try and remember the conversation he had had with the little orange man. “He said that…I should be careful when…touching you. Said that I could do something bad.”

Understanding washed over her, and Cheelai founds herself realizing just  _ why _ Lemo had mentioned this to Broly.

A few days ago, Cheelai had leaned against Broly while the three of them watched the sun rise over the horizon, and she had absent-mindedly wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders. 

Well, apparently she hadn’t thought that action through enough, because once Broly relaxed and allowed his arm to rest on her, his hand had wound up on one of her boobs. Which, of course, had caused her to jump and automatically punch him in the stomach. Which, in turn, had just caused her to hurt her hand and Broly’s feelings, and for poor Lemo to just stand by and try to mitigate the damage for both parties.

Cheelai, of course, had deeply regretted her actions and had apologized to him, but had forgotten to mention  _ why _ she had punched him, instead just stating her apology and bringing Broly a proverbial olive branch of his favorite food and drink.

And now she was paying for it.

“Broly,” she began, trying to wonder just how bad this conversation was going to go, considering how uncomfortable the last one was. “What,  _ exactly, _ did Lemo say? And who brought this up? You, or Lemo?”

The Saiyan seemed to hesitant to answer, but Cheelai leveled a look at him that spoke volumes, and eventually Broly’s shoulders sagged a little in defeat.

“It was me who…asked. I wanted to know why you had gotten angry at me, but I was afraid to ask you. So I asked Lemo. He said that…what I had done, that touching there, was…bad. That what I had done was bad, and that I shouldn’t do it again. That I needed to be careful with you, because you are a girl, and now that I knew what a girl was, I needed to act accordingly.”

She couldn’t hold back the grimace from her face. Lemo had had his heart in the right place, in trying to teach Broly how to act around the opposite sex, but he clearly hadn’t specified what  _ kind _ of touching was inappropriate. Instead he had just generalized touching, and now Broly was clearly afraid to touch her at all. Which hurt her; she was his friend, and where she came from, friends showed affection to one another. 

“Well,” she started, blowing out a sigh through her lips, “He’s not exactly wrong. I mean, there are ways that are, er… _ inappropriate _ , but that doesn’t mean that all touching is bad just because I’m a girl. Just certain, um… _ areas. _

Gosh, she hoped she was explaining this right, but the look on Broly’s face wasn’t very reassuring. Sighing again, she thought long and hard for a moment, and then brightened when she realized that the place that Broly had touched was the easiest place to start.

“Hey,” she said, “Do you remember what these are?” she gestured to her chest, and watched as he nodded.

“Yes.”

“Well, when you touched them that was what Lemo meant. That touching  _ those _ was bad. Because I’m a girl, and those are a girl-part.” Cheelai was fairly satisfied with her explanation, until she saw that there was still confusion on Broly’s face.

_ Oh great. Now what? _

“Girl-part?” he repeated.

“Um, yeah,” she stammered, “Remember how we talked about that? How girls are different than boys?”

“Yes.” He answered, but his brow was still creased in confusion. “But why is it… _ bad… _ to touch there?”

_ Oh boy. Oh jeez. _

She could only blink at him. Just like she hadn’t wanted to explain her plumbing to him, explaining... _ sex _ to him wasn’t exactly something she was keen on doing either. Like, at all. Not even a little bit. Seriously. Cheelai was just not equipped enough to give the sex talk to a grown-ass man. Well, a man who was admittedly more a child than a man, but still. It was the principle of the matter. Heck, she didn’t think she could even handle given a kid the sex talk. It was just too… _ weird. _

“Um, well, it’s…uh…it’s just, um…” Okay, it was official, she was floundering. She had no idea what to say. What  _ was _ there to say? That women had a hole, men had a pole, and sometimes they went together? And then that sometimes they didn’t, like when guys liked guys or…okay, now she was just jumping the gun. 

_ One thing at a time,  _ she told herself.  _ We’ll cover girl-on-girl and guy-on-guy later. For now, men and women doing the nasty. Er, intercourse. Coitus? _

Jeez, she couldn’t even find a way to put it that wasn’t overly clinical or just plain crass. Subtlety wasn’t her strong suit, but she was blushing at the thought of saying dirty words to the gentle giant that was Broly. He was too sweet for this, she thought sadly. A child in a man’s body.

All because of his father.

And it wasn’t like she didn’t know the terminology, or was too inexperienced to figure out how to explain it. She had been around the block a few times. It wasn’t like she was in the double-digits or anything, but she knew her way around. Er, not there  _ was _ anything wrong with being in the double-digits. She just wasn’t.

Cheelai just was clueless as to how to explain it to someone who hadn’t even known what a girl was until he saw one when she showed up into his life. 

“…Cheelai?” she was snapped from her thoughts at the speaking of her name, and realized that poor Broly had just been standing there waiting patiently for an answer while she had been having her panicked internal monologue. She refocused her own eyes on his dark orbs, and saw the regret and sorrow that was forming in his eyes.

Well, shit. Now she had really gone and done it. Poor guy was probably thinking that he had messed up, and she had learned from first-hand experience just how badly that could affect him. It could send him into a lethargic, depressive state, and it could last from days to a week, depending on how bad he felt his transgression was. 

“Hey.” She replied, and smiled at him crookedly. She knew that it wasn’t quite reaching her eyes, but she couldn’t help that. She was too anxious, too keyed up. Too upset about having made him upset. Too panicked about having to explain what the hell intimate parts were used for, and why they were used for them. But for now, she needed to reassure Broly that her feelings weren’t his fault. Nothing about his situation was his fault. He was just a victim in all of this. He hadn’t really wanted to hurt those people on Earth; he was just doing as his father had told him to. And when he had lost control…well, that hadn’t been his fault either. 

“I’m sorry big guy. I’m not upset because of you. I just am…having trouble explaining things, ya know?” she said, and reached out slowly to touch his arm, so as to comfort but not startle him. He looked slightly alarmed at the contact at first, and Cheelai worried that he would reject it, but he relaxed once her skin connected with his. He liked physical affection, but he didn’t know how to react to it or accept it. He was just unused to it. “But that’s not your fault. It’s mine. I’m just bad at this. Maybe Lemo could…do a better job? Or heck, maybe he couldn’t. Who am I to say?” 

She sighed, and scratched at the back of her head. She was just making a right mess of things, wasn’t she?

Gathering her resolve, she made a promise to herself that she would somehow make it through this conversation without thoroughly fucking it up. Broly had earned that.

“Okay,” she began, taking a breath and steeling herself. “Touching me like that wasn’t okay because it’s considered to be more…intimate than touching me other places, like my arms or legs or things like that.”

“Intimate?” Broly repeated, tilting his head slightly. 

“Yeah, intimate.” She nodded. “It’s when you like someone a lot, and want to become closer to them. In a…romantic kind of way.”

“Romantic?”

Okay, she must not be doing this right. She was using words that had no meaning to him, and had likely never heard before in his life. She needed to keep it simple. Keep it PG, definitely. She didn’t need Lemo jumping on her case for teaching Broly dirty words.

“Um, romantic means when you want to be more than friends.” She said, biting her lip in the hopes that he would understand that, in a way.

“Like…good friends?” Broly asked. “Like me and Bah?”

Oh , crap.

“No, no Broly. Not like you and Bah.” She rushed to say, instantly regretting her wording. But dammit, how the heck was she supposed to explain this? She was literally starting from scratch here. “Um, how do I put this?” she asked herself under her breath, chewing on her cheek in thought.

“So, there’s this thing where people really, really,  _ really _ like each other, okay? In a different way than you liked Bah. If you had grown up around other people, you probably would have eventually felt feelings like that before. But you didn’t, so you never have. These feelings are considered to be romantic.” Cheelai took a breath before continuing.

“And when people have romantic feelings for one another, they…touch people in the places that are considered intimate. Like the place that we talked about last time.”

A light came into Broly’s eyes, and Cheelai hoped with all her might that it was with realization and understanding of what she was trying to tell him.

“Like there?” he asked, and pointed to her chest. 

She smiled at him, brightly. Happily. Finally, he was starting to get it. “Yup, like there.” She flashed him her signature gesture. “I think you’re starting to get it, big guy.”

Broly nodded, considering her words, his eyes distant as he thought. After a few moments he returned his gaze to her own, a question obvious on his lips. Oh great, what now?

“Why?”

“Why what?” she asked, head tilted.

“Why touch there? When you like someone.”

Oh boy, that was a can of worms she was  _ not _ getting into today. She had had enough. Just like last time they had had a discussion like this one, she was tapped out. A girl could only take so much, after all.

She flashed him a smile, and gave the arm that she was still resting her hand on a gentle squeeze. 

“Again, big guy, that’s a conversation for another day.” She laughed. “C’mon, let’s go see what Lemo is up to.”

Broly nodded, still obviously curious, but willing to comply with her wishes to stave off continuing their discussion. She watched as he walked towards their house, obeying her, and Cheelai let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and allowed her shoulders to slump as they released tension.

“I swear to the universe Lemo, you are  _ so _ handling the next health and development talk.” She swore, before following after her favorite Saiyan.


	3. Chapter 3

The three of them were sitting and eating dinner, outside of their little house but towards the back of their cave. Sometimes the three of them in their abode made it feel cramped, especially considering Broly’s bulk. Cheelai knew that he usually tried to avoid going in the house, feeling more at home in the cave than in the dwelling. Just another one of his quirks, she thought with a smile. 

There hadn’t been much conversation going on tonight, all of them just enjoying the company of the others in silence, until Lemo eventually cleared his throat.

“So,” he began, yellow eyes staring down into his food instead of on herself and Broly. “I think I mighta found us a new home.”

This revelation instantly brightened Cheelai’s entire mood and demeanor. She had been waiting for what felt like  _ forever _ for Lemo to say those words. Sure, Vampa wasn’t so bad, but still. It was pretty crappy, if she were being honest.

“Seriously?” she practically squealed, “That’s great! When can we leave? Do we have enough fuel in the ship to make it there? How long do you think it’ll be to pack up all our stuff? What’s the planet like? Does it have food and water on it? Is the soil…” Cheelai trailed off, noticing that neither Lemo nor Broly seemed as excited by this as she was. What was their problem? Wasn’t getting off Vampa a  _ good _ thing?

She studied the two of them, looking from Lemo, who was watching her from beneath his ugly hat, and Broly, who had stopped eating and was looking down at his food, face expressionless.

_ Uh-oh. _

“Guys?” she asked nervously, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of her companions, “What’s up? I thought we all wanted off this freaking hell-hole?”

Again, silence permeated the cave, though this time it was of the uncomfortable kind. What was  _ wrong _ with those two, she couldn’t help but wonder? Why weren’t they happy? Lemo just looked reserved, or like he knew something she didn’t, and Broly…she just couldn’t read his face. Sure, he wasn’t the most expressive guy, but normally she could at least have a general idea of what he was feeling. But this wasn’t one of those times. Though if she had to guess, she would wager that he was upset about something. Normally that was when he got like this. Not upset at himself, but upset about something external. Something either she or Lemo had done. Like when Cheelai had suggested possible washing Bah’s ear so that it didn’t smell so bad anymore. Boy, had  _ that _ not gone over well.  _ At all. _

Or when he started thinking about his father. Despite how the man had treated him, that was all Broly had known his whole life. The only constant in his world, and that had been cruelly taken from him. Sure, Paragus had taken Bah from him, but that wasn’t enough to take the love and loyalty that Broly had for him. Sometimes Broly would just go and pummel rocks, or be a little extra violent when exterminating the parasitic beetles that dwelled on the planet. Or sometimes he would just sit and brood. Those times worried Cheelai the most, as not much could get through to him during those episodes. 

Poor guy had never been taught how to handle his emotions, after all. And anger seemed to be a new and foreign one for him.

“Guys?” she prompted again. “What’s wrong?”

At her words, it was Lemo that she finally elicited a response from. The little orange man sighed, and rubbed at the back of his head.

“Broly doesn’t want to leave.” He stated simply.

Say  _ what? _

Cheelai was shocked. Broly didn’t want to leave? Why the  _ hell _ didn’t he want to leave? Didn’t he want to see life outside this shit planet? Didn’t he want to leave he place that he had spent his entire life?

Oh, _ shit. _

The answer hit her life a spacepod hurling through the universe, and she closed her eyes as the weight of the answer fell over her. Of course he didn’t want to leave. Just like Paragus, this place was all he knew. This stupid, desolate planet was Broly’s  _ home. _ He had even called it that when he was talking to them before, on Freiza’s ship. He had said the words  _ back home _ , when talking about the story of Bah. He considered this to be home. His (mostly) safe home. The realization made her instantly ashamed of her reaction, and more understanding of why Lemo had been so reserved when talking about the possibility of a new world. Broly must have already told him his wishes.

But why only tell Lemo, she wondered? Why not tell her, too? Was she not trustworthy now that he was aware of her femininity? Or did he just trust Lemo more than her and always had? If that was the case, than she was greatly saddened, and just a little pissed off. It had been  _ her _ who had made the finger-snap decision to save his life and wish him back to Vampa. Not Lemo.  _ Her. _

Steeling herself, she tried to get her emotions under control. Maybe Broly just hadn’t had the chance to talk to her about it yet. Maybe he had been waiting, because he knew how badly she wanted off this rock. Or, maybe he had talked to Lemo about it because it was he who was looking for a new home for them? It could have been any number of reasons, she told herself. None of them had to be bad.

“Broly, is that true?” she asked, moving a little closer to him. He visibly stiffened, and Cheelai found herself moving back. He was almost acting  _ angry. _ Or was he just being defensive because he didn’t want to change his mind?

It took him a moment to answer, and he was still refusing to look anywhere but his lap, his hands fisted in the fur around his waist. He looked visibly uncomfortable, and she regretted having to make him feel this way, but dammit, this needed to be talked about. It couldn’t just be ignored, or put on the shelf for another day. Finding a new world had been one of their core goals since arriving on Vampa, after all. 

“It is.” He said quietly, almost so much so that she had trouble hearing him. “I…don’t want to leave home again.”

Again? Like when he had left when she and Lemo had found him, and brought him to Freiza? 

Oh. That made sense, then, she thought.. Of course he wouldn’t want to leave again; the last time he had left, his father had died, and he had been forced to fight to the point that it had almost driven him insane. Sure, he had gained two friends, but that didn’t make up for losing your father and your sanity (however briefly). Really, the outside world to him a strange, dangerous place that had done nothing but screw him over. 

She found herself unable to blame him. Honestly, she just felt like a bad friend for not considering his feelings on the subject.

_ Bad Cheelai, _ she scolded herself.  _ Being a shitty friend. How could you? _

“Oh.” She said, her tone empty. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I get that.”

“You do?” Broly asked, finally raising his eyes to hers, hope shining in their dark depths. It instantly made her heart melt a little, but it also further dismayed her. She could only dash his hopes in the end; they couldn’t stay on Vampa. Frieza knew where they were, and would eventually come for Broly in the end. He was just too strong for the tyrant to ignore.

She held back the urge to make a face and sigh, instead holding back her reaction. No need to make the situation worse, after all. 

“Yeah, I do.” She said quietly, then so, so slowly reached for his hand. His skin was rough, rougher than her own by far, but then she wasn’t surprised by that. He came from a warrior race, after all, and it wasn’t like he was one to use skin cream. Er, if they had any, that is. She gently squeezed it, and gave him a small smile. “I get that you don’t want to leave. This, this place, is home. I know how important home can be.”

Okay, she was lying through her teeth on that last bit; Cheelai had left home at a young age (not that she was old by any means), and hadn’t looked back since. The concept meant nothing to her. But to Broly, it was  _ everything. _ Just like his father had been. 

But that didn’t mean it had to be everything to him  _ now. _ He had her and Lemo. Home could eventually become people, not a place, to him. He just needed to see that.

“But,” she continued, maintaining eye contact with him, hoping that her purple eyes conveyed her conviction. “That doesn’t mean home can’t become something else.”

Broly’s head gave the minutest of tilts, and Cheelai smiled brightly in response. He appeared wary, bit open to the idea. 

Removing her hand from him, she gave him her sign and then looked him directly in the eyes.

_ He has such dark eyes,  _ she found herself thinking out of the blue.  _ Such sad ones. _

Tearing her mind away from that line of thought, Cheelai refocused on the task at hand; convincing Broly to leave Vampa.

“Look at us,” she gestured toward herself and Lemo. “We might live on Vampa now, but that doesn’t mean it’s our home. I don’t live on my home planet, and neither does Lemo. Right now, our home is with one another, big guy. Me, you, and that old man over there.” She jerked a thumb at Lemo with a cheeky grin, just to watch the “old man” huff.

“What did I say about calling me old?” Lemo demanded under his breath, pulling his hat down further onto his head in irritation, though Cheelai knew there was no real censure in his comment; they were on better terms than that by now.

“With…one…another?” Broly repeated slowly, blinking all the while. 

“Yeah,” Lemo pitched in, agreeing with Cheelai. “Home is with us. We all care for one another, right? Like good friends, like you and Bah?” he waited until Broly nodded before continuing. “Well, when you have friends like that, home is what you make of it. Joined the Freiza Force pretty young, myself. Meant I spent a lot of time moving from one place to another. And my home planet? Not much for me there either, so I sure don’t consider that home. So, me personally? Home is where my good friends are.”

Something sweet and child-like appeared in Broly’s eyes, and it made Cheelai ache for the child he never really got to be. The emotions he never learned how to deal with, or was allowed to feel. She was mostly a care-free, not-too-deep kind of girl, but Broly seemed to be bringing out the mushy-gushy side of her. 

_ In Lemo, too. _ She thought with some humor.  _ I’ve never heard him say something that sappy before. _

“Besides,” the orange man continued, beginning to eat his food again. Cheelai saw the action for what it was; an attempt to be casual. For Broly. To make him not feel so defensive, on edge. She felt a little bad for it, like they were luring him into a false sense of security just to get what they wanted in the end. Which was to have him concede to their wishes, to leave this place that was no bigger than a moon or large asteroid. “It’s not we would have to leave right away, if you do decide that leaving is something that you wanna do. It’s not like we’re gonna force you Broly. Or leave without you. We’re good friends, aren’t we? Good friends don’t leave good friends.” He finished with finality, and pointedly took a bite of his own food.

Whoa. Lemo was pretty good at speaking, Cheelai thought with some bemusement. Maybe it was because of his age? Didn’t people say you were supposed to get wiser as you got older, or something like that? Maybe that was true with him.

She could see that Lemo’s speech had visibly relaxed Broly, so much so that his jaw was no longer clenched, nor were his hands fisted tightly in Bah’s fur. It showed her that they were making some progress with him…which, to be honest, she was starting to feel kind of bad about.

Was it really right to make Broly leave, she worried? Should she and Lemo just suck it up and stay on this desolate planet forever with him, relying on the kindness of that weird Saiyan they had sorta-kinda befriended and eating bug juice? They had made the choice to come with him, after all. It wasn’t like they had been forced to come here, like he had. They had known what they were getting into. Or, sort of. She, personally, hadn’t thought that the planet would be  _ completely _ devoid of anything sustainable, like the fact that it lacked even water. 

Apparently that time on Frieza’s ship really had been the first time he had drank it.

She hadn’t really noticed that silence had been permeating the cave once again, so lost in her thoughts. Lemo seemed content to let it stay, silently eating his food and occasionally glancing at her and their personal Super Saiyan. 

It was said Saiyan that broke the quiet, and he did so with his eyes downcast and hands stroking Bah’s ear gently. 

“You mean that, because we are good friends, that you will not leave without me?” he finally asked, and Cheelai was taken aback by his question. She even let out a little breath; not quite a gasp, but a little expulsion of air. Even Lemo looked stunned at Broly’s question, his eyes wide and mouth slack.

_ Ah, shit. Shit, shit, shit. _

“You mean, you thought…you  _ seriously _ thought that we would leave without you?” Cheelai broke out, the words getting stuck in her throat.

The nod he gave was all it took to make her sigh in defeat, and for Lemo to hang his head.

Rubbing at the back of her neck, she wondered at how to approach this situation. It wasn’t exactly shocking, she figured, that he didn’t completely trust them. First he had lost Bah, then he had lost Paragus, and now he figured that he was probably going to lose them at some point, too. It was pretty freaking  _ sad. _ She just didn’t know how to address this little problem. This was shaping up to be yet another conversation that made her feel uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as the previous sex-talks they had had, she thought as she made a face. She just wasn’t well equipped for seriousness.

“Hey,” she said, clearing her throat. Broly looked up at her through his hair. She gave him a crooked smile, trying and failing to lighten the mood. “You think we’d ever leave you, big guy? That’s just…that’s just a load of  _ crap _ , Broly.” She stated firmly, causing him to look at her blankly.

“What is…crap?” he asked, and Cheelai smiled inwardly to herself; he could be just so damn  _ cute _ sometimes.

“It means that she’s saying you’re being…er, uh…” Lemo trailed off, unsure of how to define such a word without hurting Broly’s tender feelings.

“I just meant that that was a dumb idea, Broly.” She said, and almost winced at the look of hurt that crossed his face.

_ Well, _ she told herself,  _ he does need to learn, I guess. _

“I don’t mean that  _ you’re _ dumb,” she amended, “I just mean that thinking that we’re gonna up and leave was dumb. We did _ save _ you, didn’t we? From those Saiyans, and from Frieza? We aren’t just going to get fed up and leave; we’ve invested in you, big guy.” She laughed a little, and then reached over to  _ very _ lightly punch his arm; she had learned that too much pressure just resulted in her hurting her hand.

“Yeah,” Lemo agreed. “We couldn’t leave you. We changed our whole lives for you, Broly. We  _ want _ to be friends with you. To be here with you. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”

Quiet reigned again for the umpteenth time, and Cheelai fought the urge to squirm as she waited for Broly’s answer. Jeez, could  _ nothing  _ be easy with this guy?

Before Broly could answer, she spoke up, keeping her voice bright and cheery as a somewhat-solution occurred to her. 

“Tell ya what, big guy,” she said, “Why don’t you just think on the idea of leaving, and we’ll wait for you to decide. Okay?” she winked at him, and threw him her signature gesture. 

“Yeah,” Lemo chimed in, perking up. “How’s that sound?”

The small smile on his face was all the answer that they needed.

“That sounds…good.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally fixed this chapter! Enjoy!

_ Oh holy universe, I can’t take it anymore. _

Cheelai was freezing her ass off on yet another freezing night on Vampa. For some reason this night was colder than any of the other nights on this hell-hole, with the winds raging and even making it into the cave. Which in turn made even the house freezing, even bundled up in her jacket and blanket like she was. She knew Lemo was probably just as cold as she was, but Cheelai was feeling childish enough to where she only cared about her own comfort. Broly had attempted to try and explain that sometimes this happened on the planet; that these were considered storms of a kind, but his father likely hadn’t taught him the proper terminology so as to provide a viable description. 

Tossing over in her bed, she found herself thinking over Paragus and Broly, and their likely complicated relationship. Paragus had treated Broly like he was a weapon of some kind, a tool to be used to complete his end game, whatever the heck that had been. But the big lug had loved that jackass (for some reason), and she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, at some point, Paragus had been softer to Broly. Kinder, maybe even had actually been  _ fatherly _ to the guy as a kid. The attachment had to stem from somewhere, right? Broly wouldn’t just love someone who had treated like  _ complete _ and  _ total _ crap, right?

And it wasn’t like she could ask Broly about it; the subject of his father was still a touchy one. The wound was too fresh, too raw. He didn’t know how to handle the emotions that the loss of the man evoked; said man hadn’t taught him how to handle it.

Tired of thinking these thoughts, Cheelai threw herself up into a sitting position on her little bed with a huff, and tousled her mussed hair in frustration. Standing, she secured her blanket around her should and went off in search of something to do. If she was going to be awake, then she might as well make the most of it. Too bad anything interesting to do was outside the house and in the cave.

Shuffling out of the bedroom that belonged to her (there was a grand total of two) and into the main living space, she braced herself for the undoubtedly colder air of the cave. Stepping out of the front door, she shivered violently, tucking the blanket closer around her. Jeez, and she had thought it was cold in the house.

Making a face, she trudged on and moved about in the darkness, wondering if maybe she should have brought a flashlight or something with her. It was  _ really _ freaking dark.

“You should be asleep.”

_ “Holy fuck!” _ Cheelai swore, jumping about three feet in the air. Placing a hand on her thundering heart, she whirled around in a circle, trying to find the source of the voice. She  _ knew _ that it was Broly, in some part of her brain, but that didn’t stop her from being scared out of her ever-loving mind. “Broly? Broly, where the hell are you?” she whispered furiously.

“Here.” He answered unhelpfully. Cheelai rolled her eyes, a retort on the tip of her tongue, when suddenly a small light began to illuminate part of the cave. Looking towards it, she saw Broly sitting in a cross-legged position on the ground, a ball of energy in his hand so that she could see him and his placement. His face was solemn, more so than normal, and she felt a certain tinge of sadness to his overall demeanor. Was he upset about something, she wondered? Was that why he was awake in the middle of the night brooding in the dark? Their eyes met, and she knew immediately that yes, something was indeed wrong.

As she calmed completely from her scare, she tilted her head at the Saiyan, wondering what to say. Mushy-gushy talks weren’t her specialty (that was sarcasm) but so far she had to say that she and Lemo had been doing a pretty good job of handling the few emotional talks they had had with the kind-hearted warrior. Not to mention the sex-talks, she thought as she made a face in her head.

“So…” she said, pausing as she thought about her words. “You’re up.”

_ Smooth, Cheelai. Real smooth. _

Broly blinked at her. “So are you.”

“Yup,” she agreed, scratching at the back of her head. “Too cold to sleep.”

A furrow of confusion drew his brows together. “It is warmer in the house, you know.”

Had he just attempted sarcasm, she wondered in bemusement, or was he really just stating the obvious like she didn’t know it?

“Um, yeah.” She laughed self-consciously, “Kinda dumb of me to come out here, but I was bored, to be honest. And the house can feel awfully confining at times. So I thought I’d come out here, find something to do.”

“Without a light?”

Okay, now he was just calling her dumb without actually calling her dumb. And she was pretty sure that that thought was running through his head, too. 

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Dumb.” She rolled her eyes and blew a stray lock of hair out of them.  _ “Anyway. _ Why are you up? Can’t sleep, big guy?”

He was quiet for a moment, before he answered. His eyes drifted away from hers and to the side, further confirming that something was bugging him.

“…No.” he answered finally. “I…” he hesitated, but she didn’t push him to finish his answer. She just waited. Sometimes Broly had trouble piecing together things that he wanted to say, they had quickly learned. Most likely because Paragus had told him to be quiet most of the time.

It seemed like an eternity before he finished his thought, but eventually he did speak.

“I…” he repeated, before quieting his tone and hanging his head. “I was thinking about my dad.”

_ Aw, crap. _

Cheelai just stared at him for a moment, her shoulders sagging. She held back a sigh, trying to figure out how to address this problem. Sure, they had all talked to Broly about his dad, but both she and Lemo knew that it would take time for that particular wound to heal. He had been Broly’s world, after all. A messed up world, sure, but a world nonetheless. 

“Yeah?” she answered, clearing her throat a little. “What about him?”

Okay, now she was just sounding insensitive. Bad move. Where the hell was Lemo? He was better at handling talks about Paragus than she was. He had been more understanding of why Paragus had done what he had done to Broly, unlike herself. She had a tendency to focus on the bad shit, and not any of the good.

_ C’mon, Cheelai. Try sensitivity for once, _ she scolded herself.  _ It won’t kill ya. _

“I was thinking that I…miss him.” Broly interrupted her thoughts with his whispered confession, and she felt even worse for her earlier response. He was so like a child, despite being apparently well into adulthood. So innocent. And so unprepared for the emotions he was having.

_ And, _ he was probably unwilling to discuss them with her, because she had been stupid and made it abundantly clear just what her thoughts were on the man who had raised him. He knew that she didn’t like Paragus, and that was putting it mildly. Of course he would be reluctant to discuss his mourning with her; he probably thought that she would get mad at him for it. 

Talk about being a crappy friend… _ again. _

Jeez, the poor guy deserved better, she thought with a grimace. 

Okay, so; trying to comfort Broly about his dead father. How hard could it be? Really? Cheelai had never personally lost someone close to her, so she had never experience grief herself, but she understood the process and what it could entail. She had seen others suffer through it, but they had never been especially close to her. Lemo had lost friends in his years on the Frieza Force, so it really should be him talking to Broly about this, but that short orange jerk was sleeping at the moment, so unfortunately that just left Cheelai. 

Not that she considered herself second-best; this just wasn’t her forte was all. 

Straightening her shoulders and gathering her reserve, she tried to figure out how to approach this. After what seemed like forever, an answer occurred to her. 

“Yeah?” she said, trying to make her voice softer. “I bet you do, big guy. You loved him. Losing someone you love is…hard.” She moved closer to him, watching him watch her from the corner of his eye. Sitting carefully down next to him, she moved forward with her plan and leaned against him. He was stiff an unresponsive at first, but he gradually relaxed and allowed her to make herself comfortable against his arm. Pushing her luck, she wrapped her arms around his big, muscular one and entwined them so that she could grasp his hand. 

They had been close like this before (Cheelai was a physically affectionate person, and Broly affection-starved) but this time felt more awkward than others. Or maybe that was just Cheelai herself, who was feeling awkward about the nature of this particular conversation.

Jeez, why was it _ always _ her handling these things? Lemo really needed to step up his game on this crap, she thought with a mental pout.

Getting back to the task at hand, Cheelai continued.

“You know, I’ve never lost someone before,” she said thoughtfully. “I mean, I’ve never had anyone that I cared about die. I guess I’m lucky enough, in that way. But you and Lemo have been my only  _ real _ friends in a long time. I mean sure, I made friends before my life with the Frieza Force, and during my time with the FF, but no one means as much to me as you and Lemo do. So, I can’t imagine how hard it must be to have lost someone who you’ve known and loved since birth.” 

She stared out into the darkness of the cave, silently allowing Broly to absorb what she had said and form an answer. She hoped she hadn’t screwed up by saying what she had, but she honestly didn’t know how else to proceed with this talk. It was starting to seem like most of their conversations they were having lately were bringing Cheelai out of her element, she thought with both some amusement and irritation. 

Maybe it would help her grow as a person, she thought sarcastically. 

The quiet reigned for some time, allowing Cheelai to realized that she was still pretty freaking cold, despite being sidled up to Broly’s heat. The guy was like a heater, but the cold was just too much. Unless she snuggled closer, she was going to keep freezing.

Whoa. Wait up.  _ Snuggled? _ She and Broly did not  _ snuggle. _ They…she frowned, trying to find the word for what they did. Well, whatever it was, she told herself confidently, it was not snuggling. Snuggling was for couples, and she and Broly were certainly not an item. Like,  _ so _ not an item. At all. Whatsoever. 

She was just a very physically affectionate friend; that was all.

Shivering slightly and now just a tad uncomfortable with her position, she fidgeted in place, trying to decide if the heat Broly provided was worth the discomfort it was now causing her. But why should she be uncomfortable, she wondered? It wasn’t like anything had changed in the last minute, just the fact that Cheelai didn’t know how to classify their affectionate embraces. It was disconcerting, now, to think back on just how much physical contact she had initiated with Broly. Like just randomly hugging him or one of his arms, tugging on him to lead him somewhere, leaning against him like that one time that had ended disastrously and led to the second of their awkward conversations. But then again, she was also always invading Lemo’s personal space too, and looping an arm around his shoulders or punching him on the arm, getting in his face when she felt like saying something witty or saucy. And she and the old man  _ certainly _ weren’t an item; Cheelai shivered at the very thought of such a thing.

“You are cold.”

Snapped out of her thoughts, she jumped a little, and whipped her head to look at Broly’s face. 

He had stopped staring out into the darkness of the cave, and was now peeking at shyly. 

“Um, yeah.” She laughed nervously. “Not everyone can generate heat like you can, big guy.”

Broly nodded slightly, having been told that he ran warmer than his two companions on multiple occasions. 

“You should go inside.”

Broly was looking back down as he spoke this time, and Cheelai frowned at him. Apparently Broly didn’t want to talk about Paragus? Well, too bad. He was obviously in need of some counseling, and Dr. Cheelai was in session.

“Nah, I’m good right here.” She waved a hand to brush the thought aside. “Besides, friends don’t ditch friends.”

This got him to look back at her. “Ditch?” he enquired.

She nodded. “Yeah, ditch. Means to leave you alone when I shouldn’t. Like right now.” She gave him her best impression of a hard look.

“I’m fine.” He replied quietly. “There’s no reason to worry.”

“Tch. As if.” She rolled her eyes, but gave his arm a squeeze. “Look, I know you’re sad, and I want to help. That’s all. I’d be a craptastic friend if I didn’t.” she held up a hand to stay the question she knew was on the tip of his tongue. “Don’t even ask me what craptastic means.”

Broly slowly closed his mouth, apparently having been well prepared to ask that very question. He blinked at her, as if unsure of where to go from there. Cheelai sighed, and butted her head against his arm gently.

“C’mon, big guy. Let’s talk about.” She chewed on her cheek thoughtfully for a second, trying to figure out a form of catharsis for the Saiyan. “I hear that talking about your problems is good for you, or something like that.”

Broly seemed hesitant, but eventually his mouth twitched, and slowly began to open, words just as slowly coming out. 

“He could be…hard, sometimes. Like when he shot off Bah’s ear. Or when he would force me to train so hard, and wouldn’t let me play. But he was also…kind, to me. He taught me everything, and would offer praise to me sometimes. He said, once, that…” Broly’s voice lowered, near a whisper. “That he was proud of me.”

_ Jeez, only once? _ Was Cheelai’s first thought, but she quickly shoved it aside so that she could focus on finding some way to build up the relationship Broly had had with Paragus. 

“Of course he was proud of you, Broly.” She said with a smile. “He had every reason to be proud.”

Broly looked at her from the corner of his eye. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” she began, scrounging for reasons that would make the most sense to Broly, and would be the most believable. Of course any parent would be proud of Broly; he was the epitome of a good guy, if a little unstable. Unfortunately, those attributes weren’t valued by Saiyans. Only battle prowess.

And Broly had that in spades.

“You’re so strong.” She finished her thought. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. And I know Paragus loved you even more because of that. He might have been mean sometimes, Broly, but I think he was like that because he  _ did _ care about you.” Cheelai didn’t say that she thought Paragus  _ only _ cared about him because of his power. She knew when to hold her tongue.

Most of the time.

“Do you…do you really think so?” 

The hope in his voice made Cheelai want to tear up, but she knew that Broly would only be alarmed at the sight of her tears and would only serve to upset him more. Instead, she forced a smile, a nod, and, of course, her signature sign.

“I don’t think so, bud.” She said confidently. “I know so.”

Broly smiled, eyes soft and warm, and he ever so slowly turned towards her. Raising his arms up so very carefully, he put them around her petite frame, enfolding her into a delicate hug.

Cheelai was surprised. Broly willingly accepted her and Lemo’s affections, but he was usually never one to initiate. Probably too afraid of rejection. 

That wasn’t to say that she minded the embrace. Not in the slightest. It was…quite nice, actually. He was warm, and his arms wrapped around her made her feel safe, and protected. It was a bit awkward though, having her face pressed softly into his muscular chest, and his into her hair. But still. It was nice, and she found herself wrapping her arms around his middle to return the embrace. She closed her eyes, and let herself just enjoy the feel of him pressed against her.

She would let the matter of his father slide for now, but they would touch again on the subject in the morning. For now, she would just enjoy the sensations she was feeling.

Eventually, though, Broly leaned away, the soft smile still on his lips and a warm, soft look in his eyes that Cheelai found hard to describe.

“Was that…okay?” 

Cheelai giggled and pressed herself against his side, slinging one of his massive arms around her shoulders.

“Yeah, Broly. Yeah it was.”

Silence reigned supreme again, until eventually Cheelai felt her eyes growing heavier and heavier, and harder to keep open. She found herself leaning more into Broly, immensely enjoying the heat radiating from him. 

She vaguely heard her name being spoken, but she was too close to sleep to be able to respond.


End file.
